Rail Budget 2013: Will P K Bansal bite the bullet on fare hike?
Rajasthan to cater to the growing demand of more local and suburban trains. Railways will sign an agreement with BHEL and Rajasthan government soon for manufacturing about 400 coaches in a year.
Aiming to put rescue and restoration work during accidents on fast track, the Rail Budget 2013-14 will announce procurement of two high-speed self-propelled accident relief trains (SPART).
The SPART will enable rescue equipment to reach the accident site faster and help speedy rescue and restoration work.
Railways is likely to miss the revenue target of Rs 1.35 lakh crore for the current fiscal as the total earning for the 10 months from April, 2012, to January, 2013, has been Rs 1,01,223 crore, which means it needs to earn Rs 34,000 crore in the next two months to meet the target.
Despite the freight hike in March 2012, Railways is set to miss its freight earning target of Rs 89,339 crore this fiscal as the total goods earnings for the last 10 months from April to January is Rs 70,067.36 crore.
Even the freight loading target of 1,025 million tonnes (MT) is likely to fall short by 15 MT as Railways could transport only 927.90 MT during the last 10 months.
The total passenger earnings for the period of 10 months have been Rs 25,924 crore, whereas the target for the current fiscal is Rs 36,000 crore.
Railways, which had got Rs 24,000 crore as general budgetary support (GBS) in the last budget, sought Rs 38,000 crore from the government. It is likely to
